The Glass Hotel

The Glass Hotel is undoubtedly a story about Vincent. Why, then, are the first descriptions of her behavior and mindset filtered through her estranged brother Paul’s perspective?

What is it about the Hotel Caiette that appeals to the very wealthy? Are the guests likely get what they are looking for there?

In a world of fine art and fashion, why does the author choose to highlight two pieces of ugly, hastily scrawled graffiti? How do the two acts of vandalism compare and contrast with one another?

The act of theft plays a role in both Paul’s and Alkaitis’s characters. How do their respective thefts give the reader insight into each character’s moral outlook? How does this theft affect Vincent?

Vincent describes wealthiness as the freedom from thinking about money. Is this true, given the events of the novel?

Characters like Walter, Leon, and Vincent have the experience of being middle-class. Are those middle-class experiences, as the novel portrays them, realistic? Are they generalizable to other, real people of the middle-class?

What privileges do the male characters in The Glass Hotel possess that the female characters do not?

What productive good does money create in the novel, other than service employment and more money? In contrast, what does art accomplish?